1985 Fleetwood Southwind
Safety record from NHTSA: recalls, owner complaints, investigations and service bulletins.
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Vehicles › Fleetwood › Southwind › 1985
These records cover every 1985 Fleetwood Southwind. To see whether one car still needs a recall repair, decode its VIN or check it with NHTSA.
Recalls
3 recalls name the 1985 Fleetwood Southwind. Newest first.
Generator tailpipe can become damaged so that it terminates under the motorhome body allowing exhaust gases to leak under the motorhome and seep into the motor home. consequence of defect: generator exhaust gases inside of…
Risk and remedy
Remedy
Reroute and/or modify generator exhaust system to assure that exhaust pipe remains open, unbroken, and extends past the side or end of the body.
Main fuel tank filler cap may disengage suddenly when removing the cap for refueling. The sudden cap disengagement permits expulsion of vapor and under some circumstances, sprays gasoline around the surrounding area or persons.…
Risk and remedy
Remedy
Requires the replacement of the single stage bayonet cap with a two stage cap which requires an additional rotation prior to removal. also a warning label sticker will be issued to be installed just above the gasoline fill opening.
Trailer hitches can crack at the mounting flanges and separate from the motorhome while being used in trailer or car towing service. consequence of defect: if complete separation occurs, control would be lost of the towed vehicle; this could result in injury or death.
Owner complaints
1 complaints
Latest complaints
- Tires
I have a 26 ft. Motorhome with 4 of daytona radial stag 7.50r16lt rib tires on the rear duals. three of the tires have blown out causing damage to the wheel wells and rupturing a propane line. all this has occurred within 2500 miles. I have not had a problem with tire pressure and checked the tire pressure on the last tire to blow out within 100 miles of the blowout. *nm
Defect investigations
NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigation opened these reviews into vehicles including this one.
- Co intrusion
Summary of information from the manufacturer:the manufacturer advisedthat the auxiliary power units (apu's) and their exhaust systems are allfactory installed.in addition, the manufacturer provided two instancesof carbon monoxide (co) asphyxiation with three fatalities.however,these were not in the subject 1985 model…
Summary of information from the manufacturer:the manufacturer advisedthat the auxiliary power units (apu's) and their exhaust systems are allfactory installed.in addition, the manufacturer provided two instancesof carbon monoxide (co) asphyxiation with three fatalities.however,these were not in the subject 1985 model vehicles but in earlier models.it was disclosed that one had been an aftermarket tailpipe replacementproblem and the other related to parking in a snowbank.analysis:a model 33 unit in richland, wa, was examined.the investi-gator confirmed that the unit had not been modified in accordance withinstructions contained in the manufacturer's safety recall campaign(85v-138).pictures taken showed that the apu exhaust outlets for boththe production and modified versions satisfy the requirements expressed inthe ansi standard for recreational vehicles, chapter 3, section 4.3.tests for co intrusion with the apu in operation showed off-scale (above500 parts per million) readings in the rear center to left rear cornerwhich IS immediately above a transversely located bed.the vehiclecustodian would permit no disturbance of the bed.pictures and visualexamination of the underbody revealed the apu tail pipe to be crushed andmislocated inside the corner of the skirting surrounding the body.thevehicle was identified as one to which the manufacturer's recall applied;the angled tailpipe should have been replaced by one which exits at ninetydegrees from the side of the vehicle and forward of the apu.a second issue concerning this vehicle was raised by the attorney repre-senting the deceased's estate.he claimed that impact with a fixedobject caused the rear wall to be separated so that the lower sill of therear window could be observed from under the vehicle.information fromthe manufacturer revealed that an outer cosmetic skin had been addedto the rear of the vehicle as a beauty treatment.the observed lowersill was in fact part of the metal reinforcement for the rear wall.themultiplicity of witness marks on the under side of the body skirt indicatesthat the vehicle had been grounded more than once.examination of the curbin front of the deceased's residence revealed a number of scrape marksresulting from contact by the rear of the motor home.another issue concerning a southwind j model was raised by a floridaattorney.he correctly pointed out that the designation, j, had beenomitted from the manufacturer's safety defect notification.inquiry to themanufacturer revealed that the designation had been inadvertently omittedfrom the recall notice but that all the j models had been included in therecall because the j model identification numbers were included in thelisting used for consumer mailings.recommendation:close this preliminary evaluation.===
Every Fleetwood Southwind model year
Bars are owner complaints, dots mark years with recalls. Select a year to open its report.